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SPOTLIGHT

Some Of Our FavoriteTools And Toys

Surely you know somebody who loves outdoor cooking who deserves a gift for the holidays, birthday, anniversary, or just for being wonderful. There he is, right in the mirror! Here are our selections of best ideas, all Platinum or Gold Medalists, listed by price.

If you have a Weber Kettle, you need the Slow 'N' Sear

Bring The Heat With Broil King Signet's Dual Tube Burners

The Broil King Signet 320 is a modestly priced, 3-burner gas grill that packs a lot of value and power under the hood. Broil King's proprietary, dual-tube burners get hot fast and are able to achieve high, searing temps that rival most comparatively priced gas grills. The quality cast aluminum housing carries a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

The Good-One Is A Superb Grill And A Superb Smoker All In One

The Good-One Open Range is a charcoal grill with an offset smoke chamber attached. It is dramatically different from a traditional offset smoker. The grill sits low in front and doubles as a firebox for the smoke chamber which is spliced on above and behind so it can work like a horizontal offset smoker only better. By placing the heat source behind and under the smokebox instead of off to the side, Open Range produces even temperature from left to right, something almost impossible to achieve with a standard barrel shaped offset.

Griddle And Deep Fryer All In One

The flat top does the burgers and the fryer does the fries. Use the griddle for bacon, eggs, and home fries. Or pancakes, fajitas, grilled cheese, you name it. Why stink up the house deep frying and spatter all over? Do your fried chicken and calamari outside. Blackstone's Rangetop Combo With Deep Fryer does it all. Plus it has a built in cutting board, garbage bag holder, and paper towel holder. An additional work table on the left side provides plenty of counter space.

The Pit Barrel Cooker May Be Too Easy

The PBC has a rabid cult following for good reason. It is absolutely positively without a doubt the best bargain on a smoker in the world. Period. This baby will cook circles around the cheap offset sideways barrel smokers in the hardware stores because temperature control is so much easier. Best of all, it is only $299 delivered to your door!

The Swiss Army Knife Of Thermometers

The smart folks at ThermoWorks have finally done it: The Swiss Army Knife of thermometers, two in one. Start with the industry standard food thermometer, the Thermapen MK4, (Platinum Medal winner) truly instant (2 to 3 seconds) precise (+ or – 0.7°F). Then they built in an infrared thermometer ideal for measuring the temps of pizza stones, griddles, and frying pans (also great for finding leaks around doors and windows in your house).

The Cool Kettle With The Hinged Hood We Always Wanted

Their NK22CK-C Charcoal Kettle Grill puts a few spins on the familiar kettle design. In fact, the hinged lid with a handle on the front, spins in a rotary motion 180 degrees. It's hard to beat a Weber kettle, but Napoleon holds its own and adds some unique features to make the NK22CK-C a viable alternative.

G&F Suede Welder's Gloves

Heat Resistant Gloves With Extra Long Sleeves Hold The Hot Stuff

If you're using oven mitts at the grill, it's time to trade up. Say hello to these suede welder's gloves. They're heat resistant enough to handle hot grill grates, and flexible enough to handle tongs. The extra long sleeves even let you reach deep into the firebox to move hot logs without getting burned. Our Fave.

GrillGrates Take Gas Grills To The Infrared Zone

GrillGrates(TM) amplify heat, prevent flareups, make flipping foods easier, keep small foods from committing suicide, kill hotspots, are easier to clean, flip over to make a fine griddle, and can be easily removed and moved from one grill to another. You can even throw wood chips, pellets, or sawdust between the rails and deliver a quick burst of smoke to whatever is above. Every gas grill needs them.

Our Favorite Backyard Smoker

The amazing Karubecue is the most innovative smoker in the world. The quality of meat from this machine is astonishing. At its crux is a patented firebox that burns logs above the cooking chamber and sucks heat and extremely clean blue smoke into the thermostat controlled oven. It is our favorite smoker, period.

Masterbuilt MPS 340/G ThermoTemp XL Propane Smoker

The First Propane Smoker With A Thermostat Makes This Baby Foolproof

Set ThermoTemp's dial from 175° to 350°F and the thermostat inside will adjust the burner just like an indoor kitchen oven. All you need to do is add wood to the tray above the burner to start smokin'.

Professional Steakhouse Knife Set

Our founder, Meathead, wanted the same steak knives used by steakhouses such as Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky, Morton's, Kobe Club, Palm, and many others. So he located the manufacturer and had them stamp our name on some. They boast pointed, temper-ground, serrated, high-carbon stainless-steel, half-tang blades with excellent cutting edge ability. The beefy hardwood handle provides a comfortable grip secured by three hefty rivets. He has machine washed his more than 100 times. They have never rusted and they stay shiny without polishing. Please note that we do not make, sell, or distribute these knives, they just engrave them with our name.

Is This Superb Charcoal Grill A Kamado Killer?

The PK-360, with 360 square inches of cooking space, this rust free, cast aluminum charcoal grill is durable and easy to use. Four-way venting means it's easy to set up for two zone cooking with more control than single vent Kamado grills. It is much easier to set up for 2-zone cooking than any round kamado. Beautifully designed and completely portable. Meathead says it is his preferrred grill.

Finally, A Great Portable Pellet Smoker

Green Mountain's portable Davy Crockett Pellet Smoker is one mean tailgating and picnic machine. But it's also gaining popularity with people who want to add a small, set it and forget it pellet smoker to their backyard arsenal. And with their WiFi capabilities you can control and monitor Davy Crocket from your smart phone or laptop.

Lowe's calls this 2015 exclusive model The Char-Broil Commercial Stainless/Black 3-Burner Gas Grill. It is a new version of the previous TRU-Infrared Commercial line. The lid has an inner double layer to help keep in heat. It is capable of high enough heat for searing, and low enough for smoking. Furthermore you can create smoke easily by tossing food grade wood chips, sawdust, or... Read More

The Char-Broil Grill2Go X200 is a solid portable gas grill that employs their trademark TRU-Infrared design to produce searing temps. It has a 200 square inch stainless steel cooking grate which is also a radiant plate that concentrates heat from the single 9,500 BTU burner. With no open flame, there are no flare-ups, making X200 easy to use and very forgiving for those who become... Read More

Char-Broil's vertical gasser is one of many smokers that share the same basic design. This cabinet style device has one door for the cooking chamber and a pull out drawer at the bottom to access the combo water pan and wood tray, allowing you to tend the wood and water without disturbing your smoke box. Rotary ignition and a control knob for the 16,500 BTU burner are located on the... Read More

Char-Griller is well known for its affordable and ubiquitous barrel shaped charcoal grills and smokers. Grillin' Pro takes that charcoal barrel body, cuts a few vent holes in the bottom and adds gas burners and a grease removal system to make an unusual looking gas grill with double smoke stacks. Video: Watch Our Hands On Review Of The Char-Griller Here's a quick look at Max Good... Read More

Dancook's sleek and stylish "Euro" designs have a stripped down, less is more quality, with clean uncluttered lines. They look like futuristic Weber kettles. Indeed it performs very much like Weber. There are obvious similarities and striking differences too. Instead of Weber's single wall bottom with a damper and coal rack, Dancook uses an aluminum outer bowl with three holes at the... Read More

Meathead had a chance to cook on The Braten 1000. Here is his review:
This time the Obamas got it right. In March 2012 they gave the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and his wife, a very cool gift, a $1,900 wood and charcoal-burning grill and BBQ smoker combo, made, where else, in Obama's home state, Illinois.
Last time the Obamas didn't do so well. They gave Cameron's predecessor... Read More

Echelon Diamond Series is Fire Magic's top of the line and the E1060 is the largest model. The stainless steel cooking grates are thick and heavy. 16 gauge stainless steel flavor grids blanket the burners for even heat distribution and the four cast stainless steel E-burners, actually shaped more like an H, are super heavy duty and designed to spread flame throughout the firebox. One... Read More

Green Mountain describes their small portable Davy Crockett smoker as the Ultimate Tailgater Pellet Grill. There's a lot to like about Davy Crockett and a few negative issues that must be pointed out, but given the lack of choices for compact portable pellet smokers, Davy Crockett rises to the top of a very short list.
Regarding portability, it's difficult, and not recommended, for one... Read More

The Grillworks 36 is their most popular residential model. Beautifully crafted from high quality 304 stainless steel, these artisanal grills cook over an open fire using a crank to raise or lower the two 18" x 19" grates for heat control. Widely used in Spain, Italy and South America, this design was popularized in the United States in Southern California and commonly referred to as... Read More

Meathead loves Hasty-Bake! Here is his review:
Bottom line: I have never worked with a finer charcoal grill. They may be out there, but I've never encountered them.
Please do not confuse this superb cooker with the Easy-Bake Oven toy for kids! This is a real grownup serious charcoal cooker. There is nothing you can't do with this grill and it deserves a place in the back yard of every... Read More

Awards

“The most respected and comprehensive reviewers of grills and smokers in the world”

- Larry Olmsted,Senior Contributor (Forbes)

Many merchants pay us a small referral fee when you click our links and purchase from them. On Amazon it works on everything from grills to diapers, they never tell us what you bought, and it has zero impact on the price you pay, but has a major impact on our ability to improve this site! And remember, we only recommend products we love. If you like AmazingRibs.com, please save this link and use it every time you go to Amazonhttps://tinyurl.com/amazingribs

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